


a headache

by kelpie_flavored



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Internalized Homophobia, Menstruation, Pale Romance | Moirallegiance, Trans Dave Strider, Trans Male Character, blood is mentioned briefly, but thats not the main focus, tell me if I need to tag anything, they both want to be more but dave has issues to work out
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-12
Updated: 2018-07-12
Packaged: 2019-06-09 04:39:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,115
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15259635
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kelpie_flavored/pseuds/kelpie_flavored
Summary: Dave has his first period and freaks out.





	a headache

**Author's Note:**

> Tell me if I need to tag anything.  
> I only checked and edited this twice, so please tell me if there is any weird wording or spelling errors.

It’s about a year into the meteor journey when it actually happens to Dave. 

He’s in can town and has felt really fucking sick and kind of woozy all day. He’s trying to keep up with whatever funny bullshit Karkat is spewing about troll culture. Something, something troll knockoff name of a thing, something, something… Dave has a headache. He’s putting a can in place in a little can neighborhood and even the tiny noise the can makes when he puts it down feels like too much. The lights are really bright and he doesn’t want to have to deal with that. He puts his hands under his shades and rubs his eyes. Fuck, what is up with him today? Can god-tiers get sick? What kind of shitty deal would that be?

It’s around this point that Karkat actually looks up at him. “What? Are you laughing? I can’t tell at this point with that stupid irony facade thing you put on. What even is irony? Rose tried to explain it to me and from what I can tell you have no idea what irony is or how to use it. So unless Rose has steered me wrong, you’re a stupid bulgemuncher who doesn’t even know anything about their own culture.” Fuck, Karkat can’t stop running his mouth for one second can he? (It doesn’t help that he’s being unusually aggressive today. More so than usual.) Dave realizes he’s being a hypocrite but goddamn his head hurts like hell.

One thing Dave has learned about Karkat is that he’s very irritable and seems to love jumping to conclusions. Dave has been silent for two seconds? Oh, it must be because he’s thinking of ways to court Terezi! Dave stared at him for a second? It must be because he’s thinking of how much he hates Karkat and doesn’t actually want to be friends! He said he wasn’t gay? It must mean he hates his sister and thinks she’s only dating Kanaya for attention! Jesus, the dude needed to take a goddamned chill pill. Dave has no idea where the Terezi one came from, Dave ironically flirted with her once or twice and suddenly Karkat hated him to no end. Or at least he used to hate Dave. Things have gotten a little (a lot) better since they met in person.

“God will you shut up? I have a fucking headache. Be quiet, you asshole.” Dave mumbles the last part as his headache worsens. If god-tiers can get sick Dave can only hope whatever he’s coming down with won’t last long. Rubbing his eyes hasn’t helped his headache. The loud echoing noise of both him and Karkat talking hasn’t helped either. He looks up at Karkat who has the decency to look somewhat sorry. “Yeah, asshole y-” Dave’s head throbs and he forgets what he was going to say. “Fuck, I’m,” Dave grimaces as he stands up, “I’m just going to go lie down ‘til this is over.” Karkat opens his mouth then closes it. Dave sighs. “Out with it, dickface.” Karkat glares at him for a second. “I was going to say you could use the pile in my room since it’s closer.” Dave makes sure to address Karkat in his sweetest voice. “Aww, look everyone, Karkat actually cares about me.” Karkat claws his hands down his face. “Just go before I decide you’re an nookwhiffer who doesn’t deserve the comfort of my pile.”

Dave has actually laid in Karkat’s pile slash troll bed thing before. Apparently, as he was informed by Kat, they were pretty much pale bros. And Dave was fine with that. It was a platonic troll romance thing so that means it wasn’t gay. It just means you look out for your bro and let them talk to you about feelings and shit and it wasn’t gay or anything. 

The pile actually is softer than the last time he laid on it. Last time it had a lot of books and movies and other uncomfortable shit in it poking his back. Now it seems to be made more of pillows and blankets than anything else. Dave thinks Karkat might have actually picked up on his discomfort. Of course, Dave is still uncomfortable as all hell. How could he not be with the fucking pounding headache and- what _is_ that? His boxers feel wet and not at all in a good way. In sort of a grossly sticky way. In a weird fucking way he doesn’t think he’s felt before. He should see what it is, make sure nothing bad is happening. ...god, is he actually going to check out what’s probably just a normal bodily function in Karkat’s pile? 

...he is apparently. Dave isn’t just going to take off his pants, of course, just going to check what’s going on with his junk. He shimmies his pants down to around his knees and-. What the fuck. What the fuck is that blood?! There’s fucking blood in Dave’s boxers. Shit, shit he should’ve known this would happen. He was fucking 14 now. Most people got their periods at what? 11? 12? Dave doesn’t fucking know, he was never taught this shit. How the fuck does he deal with this? He should go to Rose. She’ll probably know what to do. She has to have something for this. But that’d mean outing himself to her. Fuck, fuck, fuck. Dave is completely unprepared. He fucking hates puberty. First boobs and now this. 

He covers his face with his hands, and shit, he’s crying. He does his best to wipe away the tears, but his tear-tracks still leave that thin gross salty feeling behind. How is he going to fucking deal with this? His clothes will self clean within a few minutes but it’s still terrible. Fuck. He needs to just- he doesn’t fucking know. 

Eventually Dave decides he should pull his pants back up before he makes a stain on Karkat’s pile after Karkat so nicely offered it to him. Fuck, he doesn’t know how he’s going to explain this to Karkat. Should he even tell him? They were in the quadrant where you talk about feelings and shit, should Dave be telling him about this? It was alien biology, for all he knows trolls don’t even have genitalia (that’d make Karkat’s insults that had the words ‘bulge’ and ‘nook’ in them a bit weird, bulges and nooks sure sounded like troll sexy bits). 

Dave lies on the pile for a while longer trying to figure things out before he hears knocking on the door. “Hey, Dave? Are you okay? You’ve been gone for a really long time.” Shit, he’s been gone for like 40 minutes. Of course Karkat would come looking for him. Just because he’s especially angry today doesn’t mean he doesn’t care how Dave is doing. “Dave? I’m coming in.” Jesus, Karkat was warning him about coming in when it was Karkat’s fucking room. How ironic was that? 

He hears the door softly open and close and the lock clicking. Karkat is suddenly laying right next to him on the pile. “Dave? You were gone for an hour, is something wrong? Oh, oh god, do you have a human disease? Please don’t tell me you’re sick.” Jumping to conclusions. At least that hasn’t changed. Dave’s about to assure him that no, he isn’t sick, when Karkat paps his cheek in an attempt to calm Dave down and Dave doesn’t think the tears ever stopped coming. “Holy shit, were you crying? What happened?” Karkat holds Dave’s face and brushes his thumbs over his cheeks, wiping away the tears rolling down them. “Uh, it’s-” Dave chokes up. Karkat begins shooshing him. “Dave, shhh, it’s okay. You can tell me.” Dave hugs Karkat close to his chest. Feels safe. “I don’t think you’ll really understand.” Karkat just paps his face and he just looks ready to be supportive no matter what. So fine, Dave guesses he’s giving an anatomy lesson to an alien today. Great.

“So uh, this is going to be kind of awkward of a discussion. So, uh, some humans kind of have this thing to do with our reproductive system where at a certain age your body begins doing things to keep it healthy and shit. And um, I’m kind of at that age.” (Fuck, he’s sobbing.) “And my body is going to keep doing this for a week every month for most of the rest of my life until it decides that it’s done its part in trying to make me have babies and shit. And the thing it does is, uh, to keep healthy is, hm.” He doesn’t really know if should keep talking. “Dave, it’s okay, you can tell me.” Fuck it. “My body kind of makes me bleed from my,” what did trolls call it? It might make Karkat understand better if he uses troll words, right? Plus Dave really doesn’t want to talk about it in human terms so this might help. “From my...I think trolls call it a nook.” That had to be the right word, right? Bulges had to be the troll dicks, right? What else would they be?

Dave is taken away from worrying about the term he used by seeing Karkat’s reaction. He looks fucking horrified. “You- humans bleed from their nooks? Are you okay?! Are you broken?! Why the fuck is that a thing?!” Now it’s Dave’s turn to calm down his moirail. “Hey, shh, Karkat, dude, man, bro. It’s okay. I’m not dying or anything.” Karkat groans loudly and puts his head in his hands. “Hhmn, I know, but this is just another one of the things that I probably messed up when making your universe. My blood is all fucked up so of course there’s some weird shit with blood going on for humans. I’m so fucking sorry.” Dave pats his back. “Hey, sh, Kat. It’s okay. You can’t blame yourself for everything, dude. It’ll be alright. This is shitty, but I’ll be okay.” Karkat presses his palms into his eyes in order to try and prevent a complete freakout. “I just don’t fucking understand.” Dave rubs his back.

“It’s alright dude. I’m the one who has to deal with this shit, so let me be the one freaking out about it, okay?” Karkat rubs his eyes and finally lets his hands fall. “Yeah, yeah okay. Is there...is there anything I can really do to help you?” Dave thinks for a bit. He could always go to Rose about this himself, but he doesn’t really feel like hearing her snark or anything she might say about this. What are moirails for, really? “Can you, can you go to Rose and ask her for period pads? She’ll know what they are.” Karkat nods dutifully and walks out of the room.

Dave lays back down on the pile and stares at the ceiling. Well that went...better than expected. Much better, actually. He’s feeling some dull, sorta stabby pains and his boxers are uncomfortable, but Karkat is getting him pads and his perception of Dave hasn’t changed. ...huh, trolls don’t have periods. He has to wonder if they have a different version of it or if they just get to go completely without that shit fucking up their day. Of course, he doesn’t actually have time to contemplate this as Karkat is back from getting pads from Rose. His face is bright ass red and Dave is now wondering what kind of weird shit Lalonde was trying to say to him as he was obtaining the pads. Whatever, at least he has them.

“Nice, you got them. Hand ‘em here, Vantas.” Karkat looks like he wants to say something but he just hands an unlabeled box to Dave. He opens it and finds the pads in neat little rows and a folded note on top in Rose’s handwriting.  
  
Dave,

I am unsure whether this is for some sort of odd prank or you might actually need these for monthly troubles, but in the case it is not an odd prank let it be known that I am your sister and you can come and talk to me about this at any time you’d like. If you only feel safe talking about such things to Karkat then I understand. I hope you know you have my full support. 

Your sister,   
Rose  
  
Dave feels a smile break through as he turns back to Karkat. “Thanks, man. You’re the fucking best. Pale for you.” Karkat’s face is flushed. “Pale for you too.” Well isn’t that cute, he’s embarrassed. “Aight, now go wait outside, I have to actually put one of these on.”

**Author's Note:**

> Tell me if you have any better ideas for the title, I kind of hate it.


End file.
